Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS)

The Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS) is a population-based prospective epidemiology cohort study in the 1990’s. Approximately 63,000 middle-aged and older Chinese men and women living in Singapore were recruited into the study during 1993 through 1998.
The primary goal of this longitudinal cohort study is to elucidate the role of diet and its interaction with genetic and genomic factors in the causation of cancer and other chronic diseases.
At recruitment, each study subject was interviewed in person by a trained interviewer using a structured questionnaire that emphasized current diet assessed via a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. In addition to survey data, blood and urine samples were collected from all consented subjects.
This cohort has been followed for site-specific cancer incidence and cause-specific mortality. The resources of this study have been used for multiple projects that investigate and assess the role of dietary and other lifestyle factors, genetic and other biomarkers for the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases.
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Eligibility criteria:	Chinese, housing estate residents, ages 45-74 years
Recruitment period:	April 1993 to December 1998
Cohort size:	Total of 63,257, with 35,298 women and 27,959 men
Baseline data:	In-person interview, focus on current diet using a validated 165-item food frequency questionnaire, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, medical history, menstrual and reproductive history from women
Follow-up:	Disease Registry, death certificates, address/phone updates via linkage
Follow-up I (1999–2004):	Total of ~55,000 subjects. Telephone and in-person interviews to update smoking, drinking, tea, coffee, exercise, medical history and for women menstrual history
Biospecimen Subcohort:	Blood or buccal cells, and urine collected from consenting subjects between 1999 and 2004. A total of 32,575 subjects contributed biospecimens, representing 51% of the cohort.
Follow-up II (2006–2010):	Total of about 39,000 subjects. Second update on selected lifestyle factors and medical history.
Follow-up III (2014–2016):	Total of 17,100 subjects re-contacted. Ageing outcomes such as cognition, quality of life and activities of daily living.